Street-car fender.



No. 648,599. Patentad May I,;l900.

A. W. SHANK.

. STREET GAR FENDER.

(Application filed Aug. 11, 1899.)

(No Modal.)

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Nrrign TAT ES AUGUSTUS \V. SIIANK, OF DETROITQMICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OFONE-EIGHTH TO CHARLES A. BERGER, OF SAME PLACE.

STREET-CAR FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,599, dated May 1,1900.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS W. SHANK, a citizen of the United States,residing atDe troit, in the county of Wayne, State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Car Fenders; andI do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in car-fendersespecially designed for use on street-cars; and it consists in theconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, andpointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and efiicient means forthrowing downward the forward end of the fender, so that a person struckthereby will be picked up and carried by the fender and not rolledthereunder, the arrangement being such as to enable the motorman toquickly operate the fender to depress the forward end thereof whennecessary and easily and readily restore the fender to its normalposition. This object is attained by the mechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion ofan electrically-propelled street-car wherein the trolley system isemployed, showing the application of my improved fender to said car andan electric circuit leading from the trolley-stand, in which circuit arelocated two powerful electromagnets, through the energizing of which thepivoted fender is adapted to be actuated. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofFig. 1, the top of the car being broken away and showing a switchwhereby-the circuit, including said electromagnets, may be closed by themotorman when it is desired to operate the fender. Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail in section through the forward end of the fender, showing abearing-roller journaled therein. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail, partlyin sec- 50 tion, showing one of the electromagnets and Application filedAugust 11,1899. Serial No. 726,830. (No model.)

its insulated armature mounted on the roarwardly-extending bar of thefender.

Referring to the letters of reference, A designates the car, which maybe of any suitable construction, and B the trolley-pole, which isadapted to carry a trolley-wheel running in electrical contact with anoverhead conductor. (Not shown.) Leading from the stand of thetrolley-pole is an electrical conductor a, which conveys the currentfrom the trolleypole to the ordinary switch C in circuit with thedriving-motor and the rails of the track throughthe medium of thewheels, as is well understood.

Branching from the conductor a is a conductor b, forminga line in whichthe electromagnets D are included and which leads to the axle of a truckand thence to the railE of the track, which forms a return-conductor tothe source of power as commonly practiced. The line or circuit formed bythe conductor 1) is normally open and is adapted to be closed by theswitch 0 through the contact-point e, as shown by dotted lines in Fig.2.

F designates the fender, which comprises a trilateral frame whoseforward end curves downwardly and forwardly and crosses the tracktransversely adjacent to the rails there- The extreme outer end of theframe of the fender is curved downwardly, as at d, forming a sort of ahousing or guard for a bearing-roller G, which is journaled upon a shaftf, whose ends are supported in brackets g, secured to the frame of thefender. The curved portion of the fender-frame serves as a guard toprevent any one from falling onto the roller when struck by the fender.Orossing between the bars of the fender-frame is a suitable netting H,as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The bars of the fender-frame near their 0 longitudinal center areprovided with upwardly-extending cars h, which are pivoted to thebrackets j, depending from the frame of the car, whereby the fender ispivotally hung from said brackets. The electromag- 5 nets D are mountedupon the under face of the car-frame, immediately above therearwardly-extending ends 2? of the bars of the fender. Located on theupper face of said bars are the armatures I of said electromag- I00nets, which are always within the field of said magnets and areinsulated from said bars by a strip of insulating material 0, as clearlyshown in Fig. 4, said armatures being held in place by the screw-bolts8.

Should the motorman discover a person upon the track liable to be struckby the car, he will at the time of shutting off the electric currentfrom the motor throw the switch 0, so as to close the line 19, causing astrong current to pass through and energize the electromagnets D,thereby attracting the arma tures I and swinging the fender to depressthe forward end thereof, so as to bring the roller D in contact with thesurface between the rails of the track, as shown bydotted lines in Fig.1, in which position of the fender a person struck by the car andknocked down upon the track will be picked up and carried upon thefender and not rolled thereunder, as is often the case where the forwardend of the fender is supported some distance above the track. a

After the car has been brought to a stop the switch 0 is swung so as toopen the line b, when the forward end of the fender will be raisedsufficiently to carry the roller G from the track through the medium ofthe coiled springs J, interposed between the bars of the fender and theframe of the car.

Depending from the car-frame are the supporting-hooks K, which engagethe rear ends of the bars of the fender to maintain them properly inplace.

Having thus fully set forth this invention, what is claimed is- 1. In acar-fender, the combination of a car, a fender pivoted thereon having aprojecting forward end and horizontally-extending rear ends, an electriccircuitleading directly from the trolley-pole to the wheels of the carindependent of the motor-circuit, electromagnets included in saidcircuit, armatures on the ends of said fender within the field of saidmagnets, and a switch adapted to be operated manually in closing saidcircuit.

2. In a car-fender, the combination ofa car, a fender pivoted on the carcarrying a roller at its forwardly-projecting end, the rear end of saidfender extending approximately parallel to the frame of the car, anormally-open electric circuit independent of the motor-circuit,electromagnets included in said circuit located adjacent to therearwardly-projecting ends of the fender-frame, armatnres to saidmagnets located upon the projecting ends of said frame, a switch adaptedto close the circuit including said electromagnets, and a springinterposed between the rearwardlyextending ends of the fender-frame andthe frame of the car.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

AUGUSTUS XV. SHANK.

Witnesses:

E. S. WHEELER, M. A. MARTIN.

